Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

One month later, with the successful refinement of the Eye of Heaven, Aburame Shisei's grand plan for spatial sealing was completed six months ahead of schedule.

On this very day, Konoha Village also faced its darkest hour, as the celestial phenomena of the sun and moon's rotation were becoming unbalanced.

After the outer space was sealed off, less and less sunlight could penetrate into the barrier.

The days are getting shorter and shorter, and the gray-black sky is getting darker and darker. By the afternoon, it's not much different from evening.

The nights became exceptionally long, exceptionally dark, and exceptionally cold.

Some plants, unable to withstand the cold, began to wither. The camellias lining the streets, those carefully planted by the mountain tribes, flowers said to have calming power, were drooping in large patches, their petals curling and turning black, their leaves falling to the ground.

Not only that, the same was true for other plants. When Kakashi Hatake discovered this, he immediately ordered them to be saved with chakra, but the effect was minimal.

Besides that, the seedlings in the fields all died overnight.

"If this continues, all the plants will die." Shikaku stood in the Hokage's office, holding a data report. "Without plants, there is no food. Our supplies can last for a while, but that's just sitting around doing nothing."

Kakashi sat behind his desk, his hands crossed and resting under his chin: "Is there a way?"

"Yes." Sasuke suddenly appeared in the room. "Connect all the plants to the Divine Tree."

This is the only way they can think of right now, and the sacred tree is connected to those who are trapped in dreams. In other words, they are using the nutrients of the living to nourish the plant, thereby alleviating the emotions of the living.

Kakashi Hatake and his companions had no choice but to act. The Konoha ninja began to dig into the hard soil, connecting the roots of each plant to the roots of the Divine Tree, using chakra to encourage the growth of new roots and shoots, allowing the withered plants to reabsorb nutrients.

The process was difficult, but most of the greenery was saved.

However, this glimmer of hope did not stop the tide of Infinite Tsukuyomi. Even with the Divine Tree, the plants here became strange, the sky was gray, and the atmosphere in Konoha was oppressive.

The number of people entering the illusion is increasing every day.

Initially, it was elderly people and middle-aged couples without children; later, it was young people who couldn't handle the pressure; and then, even some active ninjas couldn't take it anymore.

"Captain, I'm sorry... I really can't go on..."

"I know. Go ahead."

"Captain, aren't you leaving?" The young man was reluctant to leave, because it was the captain's kindness that had helped him through those difficult years.

"Let's go, I'm not as fragile as you think." The captain, Genma Shiranui, had a long wooden stick in his mouth.

In just seven days, Konoha's population plummeted to less than a thousand.

"There are so few people in Konoha, even an idiot like me has almost memorized them all." Lee smiled bitterly, his usually energetic eyes clouded with gloom for the first time.

Of these thousand people, half are active-duty ninjas. The remaining five hundred or so are mostly young parents who have recently formed new families.

Many of them chose to stay because they had children, a future, and a source of emotional support.

They still cling to illusions and don't want their children to grow up in a fantasy world, but it's unclear how long they can maintain this mindset.

The playground where children used to play is now silent, and the desks in the classroom are mostly empty, with only a few students sitting there quietly doing their homework with their heads down.

These children are still learning, but they are silently asking themselves: Is there a future in the real world?

They didn't know the answer; knowledge and ninjutsu seemed unable to change their fate.

-

On this day, a secret meeting of the mountain clan was held in a secret chamber deep underground.

The group consisted of nearly fifty ninjas from the entire clan, ranging from the oldest elder to a young lad who had just graduated from the Chunin Academy.

"We can't wait any longer." Yamanaka Masahiko, the current head of the Yamanaka family and a cousin of Yamanaka Inoichi, is one of the few rising stars who rose to prominence after Konoha went into complete isolation and became a powerful figure who leaped to the quasi-Kage level through the use of potent medicine.

That's right, Konoha isn't stagnant. Although their number of ninjas is decreasing, the strength between ninjas is constantly widening through resources and intelligence.

Konoha still has both Kage-level and Super Kage-level ninjas, and their numbers are not small. Genin have been almost completely replaced. The youngest ninjas now are all Chunin-level. In fact, more than half of the ninjas are comparable to the Jonin of the past, but they may lack experience.

He continued, "Sasuke and Naruto, the so-called twins of destiny, in the end couldn't do anything. Konoha is finished, we're all finished!"

But we still have a chance. If we present a gift of sufficient value, Aburame Shisei will surely accept us.

In fact, many years ago, they had already made a plan: to capture the Sixth Hokage, gouge out his eyes, open a passage to the outside world, and bring in Shisei Aburame.

They offered up Sasuke and Naruto, these twins destined for each other, in exchange for a chance to survive outside.

However, the reason for their delay in taking action was that they still couldn't capture Kakashi Hatake.

Until the current head of the clan created a technique that can be used when the entire Yamanaka clan gathers together.

It's called the Art of Confused Minds, and its inspiration comes from the insane Ino.

It involves infiltrating the collective consciousness into one person's body, and through collaborative efforts, driving a powerful individual insane and causing them to break down.

Although this process is somewhat dangerous and may result in the loss of some manpower, it doesn't matter. As long as we can achieve our long-cherished goal, sacrificing a little population is inevitable.

"You mean we're going to stage a coup?"

The current clan chief said, "What is a coup? This is called setting things right. Who is responsible for Konoha's current predicament? It's those so-called heroes. They shouldn't have rebelled in the first place, they shouldn't have played the hero. If we had aligned ourselves with the Aburame clan earlier, if we had defected with them, we would be living a good life outside now, instead of being trapped in our graves waiting to die!"

The entire clan remained silent, communicating through their hearts, and finally reached a tacit agreement.

They had long realized that the twins of fate had no chance of winning; only by compromising with fate could they secure their future.

Even if Aburame Shisei is fearless, he will still worry about the twins of fate turning against him, so it's never too late to compromise.

As long as he offers up Konoha, the Divine Tree, and the Twins of Destiny...

The Yamanaka clan acted swiftly, arriving at the Hokage Building that very night. Fifty people formed a heart shape with their fingers and aimed it at Kakashi.

The Mind-Disrupting Technique, activated!